The skyscraper of the future will have walls that repair themselves, windows that respond to the weather and, naturally, flying robots to keep everything clean. It will make more energy than it consumes and will eventually tailor its environment to your individual DNA.

But aficionados of futurology may be shocked to learn that the workers of 2050 will still endure a daily commute that involves neither monorails nor jet packs. Instead, they will use a distinctly 19th-century technology: the cable car.

Arup, the engineering and design consultancy, has imagined what the next generation of office might look like, in a